Readers' Tips Summarized

New Releases for True20 Lands of Nevermore

Step into the Dreamscape with XRP! Pick up the Lands of
Nevermore, expanding and exploring the 5 domains of
Nevermore. The latest titles are The Dreadlands: Land of
Nightmares, and The Hedge: The Land that lies Between. Look
for the last Land of Nevermore: The Eye, Land of Hope
at YourGamesNow.com in May.

A Brief Word From Johnn

Best Of Roleplaying Tips Weekly? What Are Your Favourite Tips?

To celebrate issue #400 that's coming soon, I'd like to post
tips from past issues that you thought were excellent. Do
you recall a tip that changed your GMing? A tip that you
still use today? A tip that made your games more fun?

Send me your favourite tip. Copy and paste it from a past
issue, or hit the online archives and use the search feature
to find the tip or link you're questing for:

If you can't remember what issue your favourite tip appeared
in, feel free to just send me an e-mail with a rough
description of what it was about.

What Should The Next Contest Be?

Now that winter's glaciers have receded from my front lawn,
it's time to think about a new contest. The most recent one
was 5 Room Dungeons, which wraps up with volume 18 this
week. Past contests have included interesting combat
locations, roleplaying plots, and quest ideas.

Because contests usually turn back into free content for you
to use in your games, I thought I'd ask you - what contest
should be next?

The Final Volume of 5 Room Dungeons

The last volume of 5 Room Dungeons contest entries is now
ready for download. If your entry did not appear in any of
the 18 volumes, please drop me a note, as it would have been
an oversight on my part, and I'll add it to a potential
supplemental volume.

Gaming Dice

Why Use Inns, Taverns, and Restaurants?

By John Simcoe and Johnn Four

In addition to providing characters with food, shelter, and
a place to party, inns, taverns, and restaurants are
wonderful player and GM tools.

We GMs sometimes fall into the trap of running the same
variations over and over. We build a limited menu of
options, and because these establishments are common in
cities, this robs gameplay of potential richness and
entertainment.

Players use such locations as part of their tactics. Public
places might be safer or make for easier escapes. They might
force NPCs to act one way or another due to crowds,
witnesses, or neutral territory.

Such places are also good bases and places for PCs to gather
information to plot their next move. The better you are able
to GM these locations, the more options and interest players
will have.

Following is an array of uses for your city's dining,
drinking, and lodging businesses to help you mix things up
and keep games fresh.

1. A Place To Meet

When it comes to places to meet, there's nothing better than
an inn, tavern, or restaurant. It offers food, drink, and
entertainment, all in one place.

With such inviting accommodations, many organizations
reserve a large section of the floor for their regular
meetings. The organizations are usually mundane groups whose
membership can include prestigious individuals of the town,
businessmen, and fraternity members.

In meetings, members network with one another, using the
organization to help better their financial or social
position. Such meetings can provide interesting plot hooks
for PCs if they're willing to eavesdrop.

Even groups with simple, unassuming names like the Farmers
Cooperative, the Civic Improvement Club, or the Money-
Changers Guild, are often more than what they appear.

The Farmers Cooperative might be complaining about how the
crops have been spoiled since the Witch Lord disappeared.
The Civic Improvement Club might be rallying to put an end
to the gargoyle problem. And the Money-Changers might decide
to hire out some mercenaries to destroy the orc raiders on
the city's northern border.

Individuals prefer taverns and the like for meetings as
well, for they offer neutral ground if the parties involved
are in conflict. They are also fairly public places, though
this doesn't stop some from casting spells and wreaking
havoc. The relative anonymity of a hazy barroom appeals to
many types of people.

Everyone has favorite haunts, and it's no different in a
fantasy world. Politicians will have a favorite
establishment, as will the president of the local thieves'
guild.

It's at these places PCs can find out who bends the ear of
whom. In addition, if important people patronize an
establishment then they'll draw a crowd of their own that
contains servants, groupies, sycophants, and hangers-on.

When a powerful person claims a tavern or other business as
"his own," he approves who comes in and who's allowed to
stay. He is always interested in whatever is happening
inside. For example, if the PCs bust up The Fallen Acorn —
the second home to the city guard captain — there will be
retribution.

2. A Place To Eat

The menu is a great tool for the GM to inject flavor into a
game (pun intended!). Tavern food is legendary. Some provide
a meal so succulent that a king would be envious, while
others don't even wash the dirt off their turnips before
mixing them into the stew.

Restaurants' main service is dishing up food; it's often
their exclusive service, so they produce the best menu
possible. Inns might supplement their services by offering
food, whether it's prepared in-house or brought in from a
nearby restaurant or pub.

Varying food quality might cause occasional illness for
patrons. Those who succumb might feel ill for a few hours,
and suffer an action penalty. Serious cases might result in
temporary stat point loss. This would definitely make an
otherwise standard meal a memorable event!

On the flip side, PCs might receive a temporary skill boost
or other boon from sitting down to a good meal, particularly
after they come in from a long adventure where they've
subsisted on scavenged scraps for weeks. Offering such a
bonus might convince especially thrifty PCs they shouldn't
always eat trail rations.

Your region will have its own eating customs, such as
popular foods, standard meal times, and expected portion
sizes, so be sure to make your eating establishments reflect
them. Other ways you can use to make meals different and
interesting are:

Type of dining: buffet, smorgasbord, live animals,
"normal"

Dishes and drink holders: type, size, shape, pattern,
material

Eating utensils, if any: purpose, types, size, shape,
material

Seating arrangements: types of furniture, seating position
and location

Servers: many NPC opportunities here, plus types, nature,
and quality of service

3. A Place To Work

Inn, taverns, and restaurants offer many employment
opportunities. These jobs are ideal for characters who live
in the city, for PCs who need a temporary income, and for
party members performing undercover work. The type and
nature of establishment will dictate how the PCs can serve,
but some example jobs are:

4. A Place To Gossip

Whether the news comes from a town crier who stops by once a
day, a community bulletin board, or regulars who come in to
gossip, inns, taverns, and restaurants are great locations
to catch the PCs up on the latest rumors, plant plot hooks,
and guide players to more productive paths.

Independent of PC and GM needs, many communities will meet
at these places to exchange information, whether the news is
true or not. Every community is unique in membership and
flavor, and this will impact the establishment.

Town guards will hang out with fellow guards at a
traditional location that other citizens will probably
avoid; mages will sip liqueurs at a tavern they insist on
calling a club; sailors will drink and eat at places full of
cheap, non-breakable furniture.

Here's a sampling of news types to keep in mind when
designing:

New laws and how people think they'll be affected

Recent events and their interpretations

Engagement announcements

"Help wanted" notices

Important personages visiting the city

Foreign relations and world events

In addition to news, PCs and NPCs might use these places to
exchange messages:

Someone could post a mysterious warning: "The great gray
beast lurks below." Such postings might provide clues to the
PCs in their adventures. These might be posted by a villain
who wants to lure the PCs into a trap or by a villain's
hireling who is developing a conscience, but is afraid to
cross his master openly.

An adversary can exchange threats with the PCs: "Biddle
Sickleleaf's bow has about as much pull as the boot shiner."
While appearing to be simple insults, they help build a
character's story. Through the bulletin board, a PC can swap
barbs with an unseen adversary instead of swapping blows.

Tension increases, as does the PC's appreciation of his
counterpart. As the story plays out on the board, a variety
of surprises can await the PC as to the identity of the
poster. It could be the king, a former school mate, a
polymorphed dragon, or a monk under a vow of silence.

A character can brag about his exploits: "On this day,
Tantiv V, 1023, let it be known that Sir Frewtic of the
Mountains did defeat a foul, evil black dragon of resounding
strength, malicious magic, and vile intent, known as
Tylkoputak. The destruction of this beast has ensured the
continued safety of the City of Woodharp. Signed, with
greatest appreciation, Mayor Grig Tarberry."

Such postings provide excellent incentive for PCs to brag
about their deeds, let their exploits be known, and provide
valuable public relations, which could lead to future
missions. They also act as a fun reward by issuing
proclamations that bring honor. The PCs can use such
proclamations as a resume of sorts when they travel.

5. A Place To Entertain

A tavern is a fantastic place to find great live
entertainment. Amazingly, there's a wide variety of it to be
had: comedy, plays, acrobats, jugglers, weapon experts,
song, and dance.

In a high-fantasy world, those don't have to be the limits.
Other on-stage entertainment can include illusionary stories
(a story of the gods), trained monster acts (Calavini and
his Blink Dogs), magic shows (summon monster spells are
always impressive), and even miracle shows (watch the
Amazing Macu bring the dead back to life). Response to such
shows vary from city to city; some will be stunned and
amazed, while others will think it's about as ordinary as a
farmer plowing his fields.

Every bard knows the best tips come from drunkards who don't
know how much they're spending — or spilling. Because of
this, entertainers provide GMs plot opportunities in the
guise of spies, informants, plot hooks, and encounter
situations.

7. A Place To Stay

Most inns' primary revenue source is offering shelter for
coin. Taverns and restaurants are also places one can find
room and board. Owners might clear the floor to be a common
room at night, and rooms — often little bigger than a closet
— above and at the back of the establishment might be made
available to certain patrons.

PCs new to a city won't have permanent residence, thus
they'll naturally go to these places seeking room and board.
They might not think of restaurants and taverns as places to
stay, so you could have an NPC plant the idea in their
heads. Such quarters might be a nice break from the classic
night-at-the-inn routine.

Flavor of accommodations can vary greatly, so this element
represents a great design opportunity. Consider mixing up
these factors:

8. A Place To Start Adventures

Sowing adventure seeds and plot hooks is the classic GMing
purpose for these public places. Though this GM tactic is
often ridiculed and criticized these days, the truth remains
that it's a fun, fast, and easy way to launch a new
adventure or campaign.

Unless your group is jaded and bored, it's ok to continue
starting stories in these types of establishments. Most
players enjoy roleplaying in familiar stomping grounds, and
GMs often have a repertoire of tried and true scenarios.

Next time you start an adventure in an inn, tavern, or
restaurant, consider adding a slight twist to keep the
players guessing:

A bar fight breaks out and the plot hook is literally
smacked out of an NPC. Perhaps the plot hook is fragile and
the PCs must rescue and protect it until the fight is over.

A mysterious stranger approaches the PCs with a job, but
he's murdered before he can give them the details. Now the
PCs must perform a pre-adventure investigation.

A mysterious stranger approaches the PCs with a request
for help. Then another stranger interrupts, denouncing the
first NPC as a fraud and liar. Which NPC should the PCs
trust? Which offer will they accept?

While the PCs are negotiating a deal with a new employer,
rival NPC adventurers appear on the scene and try to lure
the job away.

The PCs are not the ones chosen to partake in the
adventure, but they overhear all the details about the job
and can decide if they want to try beating their rivals to
the location.

The tavern is a trap. Patrons, barkeep, and wenches are
all in on the scheme. As the floor opens beneath the PCs'
table, a mysterious figure chuckles from the shadows.

9. A Place To Continue Adventures

You never know who might be eating or staying at the local
pub or inn. This gives you unlimited opportunities to
introduce NPCs who are fun to roleplay with. Some groups
enjoy gaming in-character for awhile without any plot
considerations. Other groups prefer to roleplay with
purpose. In either case, they can meet and chat with local
and visiting non-player characters in uncontrived ways to
their content.

If the PCs don't know what to do or where to turn next,
bring them back to an inn, tavern, or restaurant. Such
places make introducing clues, hints, and NPCs easy and
logical. The party often stays or eats at such an
establishment, so you can rely on the place to stage
encounters that will get the game moving again.

10. A Place To End Adventures

Adventures are often born in places of food and drink, but
they rarely end there, which is a shame — and an
opportunity.

Start your next adventure in a tavern and then be sure to
have a celebration party in it once the world has been
saved. This ties things up nicely, gives NPCs an opportunity
to pat the PCs on the back, and provides satisfying closure.

The villain's lair is a hotel, tavern, or restaurant.
While there are some security issues to address, this would
be a clever and interesting base of operations, and a cool
location for a climactic battle.

The mother of all barroom brawls. The final fight takes
place in a tavern. The mighty spells and powers brought to
bear during the battle turns the site into a place of legend
within the city.

* * *

The preceding tips were an extract from my recently
released book, GM Mastery: Inns, Taverns, and Restaurants.
For more information about this book:

Readers' Tips Of The Week:

1. Ways To Slow Down Plot Progression

From: Steve Comrie

Johnn,

Today I was trying to come up with ideas for an upcoming
campaign that would allow me to have a broad arcing
storyline that would span the length of the campaign, but at
the same time would not limit my ability to introduce side-
quests or particularly well crafted stand-alone adventures.

I wanted to make sure the introduction of side quests was
done in a way that did not detract from the overall arc, nor
were they randomly inserted as fodder when the PCs had
potentially more urgent matters to attend to.

I tried to work up a list of simple reasons the plotline
could be delayed or put on hold in a way that would allow
the players to drift toward the prepared adventure without
having fall back on meta-gaming to accept it.

Ideally, just a quick description of the roadblock would
create enough of a seed that it could be easily planted into
an on-going campaign or pre-crafted standalone.

An NPC friendly to the party travels to a library to
perform research on their behalf. In the meantime, the PCs
are left to their own devices without any leads to follow up
on.

The PCs are required to make an extravagant purchase (a
sailing vessel and crew, a rare uncut gem, a spell cast by a
high-level wizard) to assist them in the next leg of their
journey but are left without the means to do so.

While en-route to their next rendezvous over barren
territory, an event on their ship (train, caravan, etc.)
causes it to crash or become otherwise temporarily disabled.
To get moving again, the PCs will need to acquire an item
from (or complete some task) nearby.

The PCs have just achieved a minor victory (i.e.,
defeating a major henchman). As the enemy re-groups the PCs
follow-up on any lead that *sounds* as though it might lead
them to the weakened villain, regardless of whether or not
that turns out to be the case.

The PCs must prove their worth to a tribal leader before
he will allow them to pass through his clan's territory or
assist them on their quest.

One of the members of the party is mistakenly accused of
(or framed for) a crime he did not commit. The magistrate
will allow the PC and the party to prove his innocence, but
holds on to an important item as collateral. Instead of
collateral, failure to prove innocence could result in a
country-wide warrant for the arrest of the PC (and his
companions) that would prove too inconvenient not to
prevent.

And of course, the old stand-by: A patron or "clue-
holder" refuses to give up important information until the
PCs complete a task for him. While this one can be dry and a
little boring, it can be fleshed out if you draw on
background information from one or more of the PCs in the
party.

I wonder if this is something that you would want to ask
subscribers to see if anyone else cares to submit their ways
for slowing down plot progression to incorporate side quests
and stand-alone adventures.

2. Language In Fantasy Roleplaying

As a linguistics student, I simply had to chime in after
reading this week's guest tip on using accents to give
different races individual identity. I am going to use
Dungeons and Dragons as my reference, since that is the game
I am most acquainted with.

Dungeons and Dragons is guilty of the crime of having a
language simply named Common. This language is spoken by
most of the civilized races in any given D&D setting.

The problem is it feels contrived, since Common as a
language has no parallel in our world. Oftentimes it makes
the world feel unnatural and bland. To solve this problem, a
GM would do well to add the concept of regional dialects
into his world.

Consider the Common tongue as the language of a human empire
that existed at some point in your world's history. At one
point this empire encompassed most of your known setting and
thus one language was the native tongue of all its
inhabitants.

Even within one nation united by a common language, though,
variations will start to emerge in different regions. To
draw a real-world parallel, the Romance languages (e.g.
Spanish, French and Italian) were, at one point, regional
dialects of Latin. Even if all the human kingdoms of your
setting speak the same common tongue, there will be regional
variations.

If we assume such a thing as a common tongue exists, you can
add colour to your different fantasy nations by proposing
regional variations. Eberron, of all the D&D settings, takes
this into account in the book Five Nations by proposing
speech patterns and turns of phrase for each of the major
nations of Khorvaire.

If one of your nations is known for its religious zealotry,
you might emphasise this in the speech of the people from
that region by peppering it with religious references. If
one nation has a long and proud history of warfare, make
sure to add lots of synonyms for warfare and things relating
to that into their speech.

Another thing to take into account is social variation: even
within a certain society there are bound to be differences
in speech depending on a person's social status, gender and
age.

Upper classes will likely speak in a more codified manner,
while young people might be more innovative and
cosmopolitan. To get your point across, have your working
classes speak in a Mockney accent and the upper classes in
Queen's English.

In a setting where one language is spoken by the majority of
creatures, there will be those who'll learn the language
simply for the opportunities it gives. Consider the
implications of people who learn Common as a second language
and how they use it.

To use English as an example again, there have been many
studies done relating to English as a lingua franca; that
is, English used in communication between people who don't
speak it as their native language.

Consider the implications of, say, a dwarf and an elf who
have both learned Common as a second language and who are
forced to communicate with each other. How will their use of
Common differ from the speech between two native
"commoners?"

If you are a non-native speaker of English and have ever
visited a country whose native language you did not speak,
remember those discussions in English you had with the
natives?

In such an environment, the grammar tends to be more lax and
the speech becomes more goal-oriented. In the above example,
the dwarf and the elf might sound like they're speaking
"broken common," but they are communicating successfully.

Language is one of the defining features of culture, and
while many GMs are capable of coming up with extremely vivid
and complex cultures, they often ignore the implications of
language on the setting.

So, next time you imagine up a fantasy setting, take a
minute to consider the linguistic situation of your world.
It'll be worth it once your players recognize an NPC as a
street-savvy cove from Sharn, instead of a faceless NPC,
simply because of the Mockney accent you conjured up for
him.

3. Google Parchment For Props

With reference to the recent issue and the Reader's Tip "Use
Props As Clues," I find I can never get the effect I want
when I try and use tea and the oven. (I've set fire to far
too many pieces of paper.)

Instead, try searching through Google Images for parchment
or scrolls. There are a lot of very good images you can use
as a background to your documents. Then print out the
document and rip (or burn) the edges.

Once that's done, scrunch it up into a ball, open it, and
scrunch again. Repeat as necessary to get the desired
effect. If you happen to rip the document a little while
opening it, that's not too much of a problem (and, indeed,
might add to the effect).

I've done this most recently for a treasure map for my
Pirates of the Spanish Main campaign, and the players are
going to love it.

4. Craft "What You Know" Handouts For Your Players

From: Palmer Of The Turks

I suggest handing out a "what you know" sheet to each player
at the start of each session. The main advantage to this is
information about the world comes out to the players in
small, digestible chunks. This is better than a long and
possibly daunting list/description of stuff, which may turn
them off or make them lose interest.

Plus, a bit at a time is easier to learn and remember than
all at once. It also slowly immerses them more and more in
the world as time passes, both in knowledge they "already
had" and in ways that the world changes around them (through
use of rumours).

Not only that, but it becomes easy to plant tons of true
rumours and other adventure hooks into the game without them
being blatantly obvious.

Categories could include:

Several items of "common knowledge" that characters would
be assumed to know, but haven't been explicitly stated
before either in-game or in the setting background handout.

A few "rumours" they've picked up over the course of time
- not necessarily between when last session left off and
this one began, because they might break off in the middle
of a non-rumour collecting area like a dungeon.

A few pieces of "uncommon knowledge" that will probably
be directly tied to their background and/or class-profession.

A section titled "Dream" where a single dream is
described. The section could be defined as "the most
memorable dream you've had in the last while."

The trick is to make each week's sheet personalized. You can
give mostly or completely different "Common Knowledge" for
each character, then let them choose whether they want to
share it out of character or mention it in-character at an
appropriate time.

Rumours should be 25-50% duplicated among the sheets of the
players. Common rumours will be heard by multiple players.
If everyone gets the same one, they'll know it's a "everyone
knows" rumour.

Uncommon knowledge and Dreams should be personalized.

The "common knowledge" category might be things like:

Names and titles of the monarch and those in line to
inherit the rulership, as well as who's in line for the
crown, and in what order.

"Rumours" are just that. Make up a bunch for each area the
party travels to. If they're between locations (traveling/in
a dungeon) be sure to note where they heard the rumours, and
what they are about.

Try to keep the rumours relevant to what the PCs are doing,
about to do, plan to do, or should be doing. You can also
date them if you desire. "You remember some time back
overhearing someone in a bar talking about the McGuffin of
Dingus. Supposedly, it was buried in the ruins of Trokair
after it was destroyed by the dragon."

Of course, the week this gets on the sheet is the week the
characters are either exploring, heading to, or passing by
the ruins of Trokair. Or they're in an unknown/unidentified
ruins that _could_ be Trokair.

75% of the false ones should be believable. The other 25%
should be fanciful and easily dismissed as silly and
false by "worldly adventurers."

Then again, it's good to put in a small fraction of "rather
fanciful and easily dismissed as silly and false" rumours
that are true, just to keep them on their toes.

The best way to handle rumours is to write up a ton of them
beforehand and pluck them out randomly each week.

Uncommon knowledge can include:

A rogue knowing the identity of the local thieves'
guildmaster.

Most anyone knowing about a notorious villain, who
probably did something really bad in the area the character
grew up in.

A former soldier knowing the ranks, organization and
practices of his former army, and likely the names and
something about the personalities of some major officers.
(General Narrak likes to order head-on charges, Captain
Grann is a stickler for regulations and protocol, Sergeant
Virt is a slacker who always shifts blame, etc.).

The native of a certain port knows about some of the major
shipping lines and companies.

The character from wherever knows a few local legends that
might or might not have grains of truth.

A priest knows the secret that his faith's leader is
deathly ill and bedridden. The leader's appearances lately
have been done by stand-ins in disguise. The priest might
have a secret mission to obtain an cure, or he might be
affected by political in-fighting among potential successor
factions.